Start Over
by allydog509
Summary: Luffy died and was stuck in "Limbo". One day, someone freed him and sent him back in time to when he was twelve. Will he be able right the wrongs from the previous time? Or will he lose everything to fate once more?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, this is that story you guys voted on! It's only the prologue right now, as I've only done a couple chapters. I'm only putting this here to see your thoughts and what should be changed (as a forewarning, as of this moment, this is the most dramatic chapter). It'll be a while before I finish the rest to show you guys, but I will definitely post it as soon as I'm done. So, with that out of the way, here we go!**

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Prologue:

He took a swig of the drink sitting before him. It should've been Zoro drinking the alcoholic beverage. Should've been Nami tending to her tangerine trees. Franky filling Sunny with cola. Usopp making stories. Chopper bandaging his wounds. Sanji making delicious meals. Brook playing amazing music. Robin reading the open books in the observatory. Jimbe finally walking on the deck of the Thousand Sunny.

It should've been Luffy who died instead of them. They deserved so much better.

"Everything I touch just dies, doesn't it", Luffy laughed bitterly as he laid on the bench. His scenery changed again, the normal for him now, as he stood and dropped the bottle, the glass breaking before disappearing. That was around the moment he died, so it wasn't too unexpected.

He sighed. Gonna start again. Beginning to end. End to beginning. He just didn't care anymore. He laid back down as everything reappeared. Which person's life was he gonna see this time? He couldn't find it in himself to care who it was, he just wanted to sleep his drunken haze away and to just forget everything that happened.

The bystander effect was a sad thing. He couldn't do anything as he watched person after person after person just crumble to dust and wither away to nothingness. Everything died. Nothing would stay forever.

He often times had to remind himself of who he was, so he wouldn't lose himself to the jumble of memories roaring in his mind. He reminded himself by looking at his scars and writing notes of his life on his body with his nails to keep from losing it all.

He often wondered if there was a way out of this torture. And he often thought that, no, there was no way. He would've found it long ago, if so.

Except, several people appeared in front of him. All very familiar, though, with the next life playing in his mind, it was hard to recall. He looked at his notes and found a section on each crewmate, words of each littering his back.

Luffy wondered why he could see them if this wasn't the right timeframe for them to live in yet. The nine of them smiled warmly at the Strawhat captain, he felt he didn't deserve their warmth. They each put a hand on him one by one, some giving hugs, and he realized his body was starting to fade away. Luffy idly wondered where he would go this time, if anywhere. Maybe he was just hallucinating again. He hoped not. That was never fun.

 _"Captain",_ he heard before vanishing completely. _"You deserve so much better than this_ " Luffy faintly noticed tears go down his cheek, falling onto his hands and a small sob tore through his throat before finally disappearing.

Luffy awoke to a distorted view of trees, broken wood, and a vaguely worried... Ace? He didn't remember this moment. At all. And that's saying something. He's memorized every life he has seen, due to the sheer amount of times he had seen each one. He still didn't remember seeing a worried Ace hovering over him with a broken roof under a canopy of trees. Though, the fact he could try to recall something meant he wasn't watching someone's life at that moment, which he was grateful to know.

 _"Ace..."_ Tears sprang to his eyes as he sat up and slowly touched Ace's confused and slightly worried face. It wasn't one of the memories. He could feel his big brother's face. Could smell the molded wood around them. The tears fell as he held his confused and increasingly worried brother's face in his hands.

"L-Luffy?" Luffy jumped a bit at hearing his voice, but wound up just pulling his big brother close and holding onto him for dear life. He was worried that it all just might disappear if he let go of Ace. He didn't want it to. He was desperate to know that Ace was real, that he wasn't just dreaming (not that he could sleep when he was in where ever he was), and the ability to feel told him that it was all real. He openly cried in joy.

Ace, still confused and worried, pushed away from the crying twelve year old, holding him at arms length. It was terrifying seeing the normally cheerful Luffy suddenly fall out of a tree and start crying over him. He didn't know how to react. Luffy was always weird and spontaneous, but this was new.

"Ace", Luffy cried as he pulled his brother into a, surprisingly strong, hug.

"Luffy!" Ace bopped him on the head, still worried, but confused and angry as well. Luffy sniffled and looked up. Ace saw his eyes, they looked aged somehow. "Don't suddenly go and fall out of trees, moron", he bopped him one more time. The anger left, but he was still worried and confused. Luffy had some explaning to do. He decided to ask. 'Now or never', he thought.

"Luffy... what the _hell's_ going on?" Ace knew something was off and he was going to figure it out.

Luffy didn't know whether to tell him the truth or not. Maybe if he ignored the question, Ace would forget he asked? He sighed miserably; that never works. Still, Luffy couldn't find the words to explain the hell he just went through and he didn't know if he really wanted to find said words. It'd probably just worry Ace more.

Though, Ace would beg to differ. His worried frown and the impatient glare told Luffy as much. How do you explain to your over protective big brother that you died at some point, ended up seeing every life on earth's history, and then try to explain something you don't even understand yourself? Luffy had no clue what to say, but he'd have to try anyway.

"I died", Luffy said. Well, it wasn't wrong. He had died. Even though it was clear to Luffy, Ace had the most confused expression the young Monkey had ever seen in any life.

"Ah. Wait, I died then I came back to life. That sounds about right."

"What? Can you explain that just a bit better, Luffy", Ace pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation, trying to be a bit patient for his... _slower_ baby brother.

"I ran out of meat. Then I woke up here", Luffy said, purposefully vague. In all honesty, Luffy didn't really wanna talk about what happened in between. Or any of it really. It wasn't much fun thinking of the end of the world. Ace had his sneaking suspicions that something _had_ happened, though, and Luffy hoped he wouldn't find out anytime soon.

Ace sighed, realizing he wasn't gonna get much out of his bumbling kid brother unless he wanted to tell him.

It was nearing dinner and the two decided to head to back to Dadan's hideout with the alligator Luffy realized Ace had in hand. He chanted "food" the entire way after realizing he hadn't had food in... who know's how long anymore. The longer he stayed in that place, the more time he lost. He couldn't keep track and gave up on time after the third round of memories. All he knew now, though, was that he was starving and couldn't wait for dinner.

Dinner seemed to go by fast, Luffy's feeling of nostalgia pushed aside for the moment for food. After dinner, Ace pulled him to the barrel of water they used for baths. It had been far too long since Luffy had a bath, Ace decided when he could smell the younger from across the room. The two got undressed, Luffy seemingly more excited for baths than usual. That was when he noticed them.

"Luffy... what...?"

He saw his baby brother's scars. Every last one. There were words written all over the tiny body, but, the one that felt most ominous, was the big x shaped scar burned into his chest. Ace didn't know why, but he felt as if the x was his fault in some way. In reality, he felt that all of those scars were his fault for not taking better care of their idiotic baby brother.

He had to get Luffy to tell him what happened. Luffy looked a bit apprehensive, though, and Ace didn't know what to ask. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he was just a bit hesitant as Luffy hadn't had those earlier.

"Luffy, what _really_ happened?" Ace was more concerned than when Luffy suddenly fell from the tree. He didn't know what happened, but he needed to. That feeling in his gut that told him it was his fault only grew tighter with Luffy's unnaturally pained look.

"Like I said before, I died and I came back", he stated. Ace's anger flared a bit at the purposeful vagueness that was so unlike his baby brother. Luffy bit his lip and walked off, skipping the bath, and headed straight to bed. He really didn't want Ace to know.

Later that night, Ace finally went back to the small room above Dadan's, only to find Luffy was actually awake. Though it was dark, he could see his brother shivering under a blanket in the moonlight, whispering something.

"Where am I", Ace heard as he got closer to the tiny bundle. It made him freeze. He thought he felt his heart stop at those words.

"What's going on? Where is everyone? Pa?" The tiny bundle turned around and faced Ace. Upon seeing him, Luffy froze, scared. "Who're you? ...I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!" His eyes were glazed over with tears, and Ace thought he could hear his own heart shatter.

"Luffy..."

"Who... who's Lu-", Luffy started, confused and scared, before collapsing on his side, asleep. Ace was almost crying-he couldn't let himself cry, that's what babies did-, scared for his little brother.

"What happened, Luffy?"

The next morning, Luffy woke up with Ace staring at him in worry. **'What happened to make Ace so worried? Did I do something in my sleep? Did I eat Ace's pillow?!',** Luffy thought, slightly worried he stole a pillow thinking it was food. He didn't taste anything different in his mouth, though, so he dismissed the possibility. He stared at Ace, owl-eyed with curiosity. He was finally back, but he kept making his big brother worry. He's a terrible little brother.

"Lu-Luffy", Ace hesitantly asked.

Luffy tilted his head to the side a bit. "Yeah, Ace?" Ace sighed and collapsed in relief. "Ace?!"

"I'm fine, Luffy." He bopped him on the head. "Don't go scaring me like that, you idiot!"

"Like what", Luffy asked, clutching his head, not that he needed to. He wasn't hurt, after all. "Ace?"

"You didn't know who you were last night and freaked out", he mumbled. Luffy looked slightly taken aback at that then put two and two together. It was a nightmare from one of the people.

He thought he was finished with reliving other people's lives. He thought he was _f_ _ree_ from it. Why can't things ever go right? Luffy sighed. He figured he had no choice but to tell him, Ace wouldn't relax without an explanation now.

"I lost my crew to an admiral and, a few months later, a bastard took the most dangerous weapons in the world and everyone died. I survived that, but I didn't last long without any food." Luffy slowly looked back up at Ace's confused, but worried face, his own fear growing. He didn't want to speak about that place. It couldn't have been the afterlife, Brook said something else happened there. It wasn't a nice place at all. It was lonely and cold.

"When I woke up, it was pitch black and cold. I didn't know what happened or where I was, but I knew I was alone." He saw his brother's eyes widen. Luffy's greatest fear was of being alone and, in there, he was _alone._

"I... I don't even have the right words to describe it. I could see... everything? I don't know how or why, but I kept reliving people's lives and, everytime another person's life came up, I couldn't remember who I was or what happened to me. I wrote it down so I wouldn't lose my memory again." Ace looked at the words littering his little brother's rubbery body and realized they were descriptions. He saw his own on Luffy's stomach, though he didn't read more than his name, not wanting to know what happened to himself in the future.

"I don't know how, but I wound up back here and I could feel things again", Luffy choked back a sob as tears started to pour down his face. "I could remember things and see with my own eyes, instead of some dead person's. I could touch stuff, like the moldy wood and the blanket and Ace's warm face." Luffy couldn't stop crying, he was so happy and so sad, but he didn't want to cry.

Ace realized now why Luffy held his face for so long. Ace was _real_ and _warm_ and Luffy had been _cold_ and _unable to feel_ for so long. It broke his heart to learn this. It sort of explained Luffy's behavior last night as well. He was probably trapped in a dream of one of the people. If he had seen _'everything'_ then that would make some sense.

He held his baby brother close, realizing that he needed to feel a real, warm person more than anything right now. Luffy just cried, unable to stop himself. He was so happy to be out of that place, but so sad that he still wasn't free of it. He wasn't sure what to do anymore, but he wanted to fix things. He wanted his crew back and he wanted to keep them safe this time. He wanted to keep his brothers safe, too, and he'd do anything to make sure that that happened. His crew and his brothers were the most precious people in his life. He didn't want to lose them again.

He _wouldn't_ lose them again.

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 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 1:_

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It had been almost two years since Luffy came to the past. He and Ace had discussed some ideas as to how it happened, but the best they could think of was either a devil fruit or his dead nakama. Both seemed a bit unlikely, but they weren't going to rule out the ideas. The whole situation was weird, why not have weird theories, too?

Ace was almost seventeen now.

"Only a few more days", Luffy mused aloud.

"Yep", Ace replied, both excited and reluctant. Excited, because he could be free, unlike his late brother who had passed before getting a taste of freedom. And he felt reluctant, because Luffy didn't seem very emotionally stable and he was alone for a very long time. Luffy tried to assure him several times over that he'd be just fine, but Ace was Ace, ever the worrywort. Though, admittedly, Luffy wasn't much better in that regard.

Two days later, the two decided to have a huge feast before Ace left the next day. They would have a blast hunting together again and having a party. Parties were always great, no matter the time, to them and their bandit family. Dadan was almost in tears most of the time. She refused to cry, though, but Luffy knew she'd be crying her eyes out once Ace left. He also knew a big party would cheer everyone up.

And that's what they did. The bandits' hideout was one big party from that morning to the next afternoon, shortly before Ace would set sail. It was a grand departure, in Luffy's opinion, and they'd have it no other way. A grand pirate needs just as grand a send off, no?

Luffy laughed as he waved to his brother's slowly disappearing form. It'd be three years before they saw each other again. He just hoped nothing too drastic changed and they wouldn't meet at all. It was a terrifying thought, but not impossible.

Well, there was no use dwelling on it too long. He still had three years worth of training to do. Idly, he wondered how his haki would be now compared to before. Not that he hadn't used it at all, just not very often as there wasn't much need for it.

He focused on his surroundings. Observation was the one he had used most out of the three, but using it on instinct was a bit different than focusing. He noticed the slight decrease in range. That would need work.

Armament. Not as strong anymore. Damn.

Conqueror's. It was basically the same as before. He wouldn't fully know until he went into an all out battle, of course. He couldn't just go and try to knock out everyone on the island.

His overall strength had definitely decreased with his haki. He had his work cut out for him with training. He wanted to get to it immediately, which was exactly what he did. He trained almost non-stop for those three years.

He saw Ace's bounty after a few months, it hadn't changed, but he was still excited to see his big brother's poster again.

"Ace, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna make sure everyone survives this time. Maybe we can fight over being the Pirate King? Shishishi, na, Ace? Sabo?" Luffy breathed a sigh as he smiled slightly, remembering his brothers and himself fighting over who'd get the position of Captain on their ship.

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Three years had passed by and Luffy noticed the difference in his strength between then and now. It was a pretty big change, but one he was glad for. He just hoped it wouldn't be too little strength to save his brothers and his crew. He wouldn't let it be, he decided. Luffy would train as often as possible. Maybe he could get Zoro to teach him some stuff? Swords were cool, but not his dominant style. Actually, he couldn't use a sword to save his life. Or anyone's for that matter, which was why he wanted to learn.

If the information wouldn't just pass through one ear and out the other, that is. He was determined to try, though.

"Na, Dadan, I'm going off now. You sure you're not coming?"

"Yes, Luffy, I'm sure. Now get out of here, ya damn brat!" Luffy laughed and then gained a thoughtful look on his face. He remembered saying something funny to her, but... Oh! That was it!

"Oh, yeah, Dadan!"

"What, brat?!"

"I hate mountain bandits!"

"Shut up and go already!"

"But I like you guys!" Dadan was almost on the floor in tears after hearing that, blubbering out obscenities she didn't mean and that he should go already. Luffy laughed and made his way to Windmill Village. It had been so long since he last saw his home. Well over twenty years now, even if you don't include the time between. It would be nice to see everyone again. Makino and Mayor Woop Slap had visited every now and again, but he hadn't seen the rest of the villagers in a very, very long time.

He was right, it was nice to see everyone again, even though Woop Slap wasn't happy that another criminal was coming from their small, out-of-the-way village. That just made Luffy laugh, though. Everyone in the village, including Woop Slap to some extent and the bandits that were hiding behind a house, was excited for Luffy. He was going to "start" his journey and become King of the Pirates. They all believed in him, too.

Luffy stood in his small boat, happy with his simple begining, and denying the offer of a better boat. How would he get any stronger if he started out with something easy, after all?

He stared at the sky for a moment as he felt a large aura approach from beneath the waves. The eel seaking that ate Shanks' arm was back. Luffy sent it flying, even without his haki. It felt nice to punch that seaking again, he admitted to himself.

"Ace. Sabo. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna make sure everyone lives this time."

"What are you mumbling to yourself, Luffy? A good luck charm", one villager asked with a good natured laugh.

"Nah, it's just a promise I intend to keep!" Luffy smiled wide at his old home one last time. Then, he set off, ready to find his friends and brothers once again. He was ready to start over.

His boat was nearing a large whirlpool, he had a vague idea of where he was, but he only thought of the fact that he'd be seeing Coby again soon. It would be great to see him again. Luffy knew he'd become a great marine in the future and he'd be damned if he didn't make sure that happened again.

He also felt a bit sorry that he'd be putting Coby through Gramps' training again. Though, he couldn't exactly help that one. Some things were just out of his control. He laughed to himself a bit as he finished the last apple in the barrel and jumped in. That was how Coby found him, right? In a barrel in the sea? Details were never his strong point, so he just decided to let the barrel take him where he needed to be. He was getting tired of rowing anyway.

He soon awoke to the feeling of rolling and hitting a... staircase? It sure felt like one. Good thing he was rubber! The rolling continued until he finally hit something and stopped. The rolling made him a bit dizzy, but it didn't last long. Soon after, he felt someone quietly walk in. They were scared, but he knew that would change soon.

Coby looked around the storage room, wary of what might be in there. He didn't think he could survive anymore torment from Alvida's cronies. Maybe they wouldn't find him here.

He soon noticed a large barrel that seemed pretty out of place in a room that housed much smaller barrels. He didn't pay much heed to the difference and figured it was probably beer or something. Maybe if he threw the contents out and jumped in he could escape? The thought of Alvida finding out and chasing him terrified him. He didn't want to be her slave, but he still wanted to live.

Three of said whale's cronies came in, seeing Coby rolling a giant barrel towards the door. They stopped him and decided to break it open. Coby thought it was stupid how they planned on opening the barrel with their fists.

Before the burly cronie had a chance to bring his arm down, a person came flying out of the barrel, shocking all who were present. The burly man was knocked unconscious by the teen's head whacking him in the chin as he stood.

"Who the hell are you", the other two cried in shock and anger.

"Man! That was a weird dream!"

"Don't just ignore us!"

"Eh? Who're you?"

"We asked first! Now, quit messing with us and tell us who you are!"

"Oh, me, I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice ta meet ya", Luffy said with a wave. It wasn't really all that nice to meet them, they smelled terrible. Probably worse than when he first met Zoro. Though, Luffy tried being a bit more polite, since he didn't remember meeting them before. Maybe he did and they were just forgettable people? Oh well. The two came at him with swords, but he pushed a bit of Conqueror's on them and they fled with the unconscious one.

"What's with them? It wasn't even that much haki", he mumbled. Coby stared at the strawhatted teen, awe and fear on his face. Luffy noticed he was still standing there and waved his hand in Coby's face.

Coby blinked and wasn't entirely sure what to say. "Th-that was... amazing!"

"Ah, thanks, I guess, Coby." The moment it came out of his mouth, Luffy realized his mistake.

"H-how do you know my name?" And the fear was back on his face.

"I... I heard those guys say your name before I jumped out." It wasn't false, he had heard them, but he didn't think Coby would believe that too easily. Coby looked a bit suspicious, but took the answer none the less, which Luffy was grateful for.

Luffy smelled food and, hearing his stomach rumble, decided to follow the scent. Coby followed, not to sure what else he should do at that moment. Luffy's nose lead them to the pantry. It... was filled with mostly apples. Why so many apples?

Luffy decided he didn't care too much, because it was still food. He started digging in right away, happy to have something to eat.

"So... Luffy, right?" Luffy nodded, popping another apple in his mouth. "Why are you out at sea?"

"Ah, I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

"What?! So you're looking for the legendary One piece?!" A nod. "Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! There are tons of other pirates out there stronger than you and they're looking for the same thing!"

Luffy frowned. He knew Coby was pessimistic at the best of times, but he forgot just how bad it was. At first, then Coby started to really believe he could accomplish his dream.

"Coby, it's not about if I can do it. I'm doing this because I want to. It's my dream." And because he made a promise, but that was a promise he wanted to keep anyway. Coby looked at the teen not much older than him (physically, at least), shock and realization on his face.

"Do-do you think I could do it? That I could achieve my dream if I tried? That I could be a marine?"

"I think you'll be a great marine, Coby!"

"Yeah! I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna be a marine and catch bad guys like Alvida!" Luffy smiled brightly. Coby found his determination.

The whale Coby said he'd catch came bursting through the ceiling. It freaked Coby out and Luffy wondered how she knew where they were. Did she have observation haki? Nah, if that were the case she would've come around a while ago, or at least noticed that he was sleeping on the ship they were raiding. Luffy shrugged, it didn't really matter anyway. He planned on kicking her fat ass right off the ship again whether she had haki or not.

"Who do you plan on catching, Coby?" She must have pretty good ears, though. "Planning treason with a bounty hunter are we?" Maybe not so good of ears then. "You must be Roronoa Zoro, right? Have you come to take my head? No, you don't have three swords. Who the hell are you?"

"Just someone who plans on kicking your fat ass, whale-hag." Luffy laughed as he brought Coby up to the deck, avoiding the sloppy attack from Alvida. He decided to show off a bit and practically destroyed Alvida's crew. At least, in the sense where they were now unwilling to fight some monstrous demon with stretchy limbs. All of the crew members were lying face down on the deck. The ones who weren't beaten unconscious in one hit were lying there in fear that he'd get them, too. Luffy found it pretty funny how they practically gave up trying to fight him, but was disappointed at the lack of a challenge.

"L-Luffy? What are you", Coby asked, scared of his new friend.

"I'm a rubber man", he exclaimed, pulling his cheek out to an inhuman length.

"Rubber... man?" Coby thought that that kind of thing was just a myth, but Luffy just showed him otherwise.

"So, you've eaten one of the mythical devil fruits, huh?"

"Look, whale-lady," A tick mark appeared over her brow. ", devil fruits aren't a myth. I'm pretty sure I just showed you that." Luffy stretched his cheek out to unusual lengths once again, showing her that, yes, devil fruits are real. "They're pretty awesome sometimes!" He remembered the one devil fruit that really wasn't "awesome". The pet-pet fruit. It gave the user the ability to enslave their captives and have them come to their every beck and call, obey every order. It was torture to Luffy. He'd prefer having his freedom, thank you very much. He remembered some of the animals under the weirdo's control trying to break free with no luck. It was a sad thing to think of, so he thought of what was happening in front of him instead.

Alvida swung her mace down and Luffy covered his head and hat in haki on instict. The mace shattered on impact. Alvida was completely taken off-guard and Luffy took advantage of that, punching her in the face, breaking her nose and cheeks in the process, and throwing her into the sea, far away.

Coby stared in awe and felt a bit weak. His nightmare had been defeated in one shot by his new friend. He was, by all means, free. It was a nice feeling.

"You." Luffy pointed at a random crew member. "Get Coby a boat. He's leaving and becoming a marine." Coby thought he'd cry. No one had ever been so nice to him before. He really hoped that Luffy thought they were friends, too.

The marines showed up as they jumped into their small life-boat. Luffy noticed someone next to them. In a boat just a few feet away was Nami. Luffy's eyes were wide, both shock and joy were in them as he saw Nami row away. He had almost forgotten that she was headed to Shells Town, too. What a coincidence. Luffy laughed to himself a bit.

"So, Luffy, where are we going now", Coby asked, not scared of the rubber teen sitting near him any longer.

"To where Zoro is."

"What?! The pirate hunter?! Why would you wanna see him?!"

"I'm gonna see if I can get him to join my crew!"

"Luffy, he's a pirate hunter. I don't think he's gonna just join a pirate crew."

"Nah, he's gonna join."

Coby stared at him, confused for a moment, until he realized there would be no point trying to tell Luffy otherwise. He was too stubborn. "Whatever you say, Luffy..."

The two sat in the boat, goofing around and having a generally good time. They'd be in Shells Town and separating soon, but Luffy didn't mind. Coby was strong. Or would be strong, he should say. Gramps would make sure of that.

It wasn't long before they reached the Marine Base's city.

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 **Hi, I know I said I wanted to post when I was finished making all the chapters, but I felt bad not doing anything at all, so I'm gonna do a chapter every month (instead of the 31st like today, it's gonna be the 1st) until it's done. When it's done, I'm gonna post every week. So, see you guys next month!**

 **LongPastMidnight: I'm glad you think so! I really hope it does, too. I also ope you enjoy this one! ^u^**

 **Question before I go: What enemies/friends would you guys like to have remember? I only wanna put one extra friend and around two or three enemies, maybe less.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter_ _2:_

They soon reached Shells Town, where he first met Zoro and where they'd meet again. His aura was strong, Luffy noted. A little less than how he used to be, but not by a lot. Luffy knew it was a long shot, but he hoped his friends would remember him, even though he made the biggest mistake. He also hoped that, if they did remember that they could forgive him. He couldn't even forgive himself, though, so he doubted they would.

"Luffy", Coby asked, slightly worried as his friend had been quiet since they got there.

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking." Coby still looked a bit worried, but nodded none the less.

"So, where do you think we'll find Zoro", Luffy asked, though he already knew. The crowd jumped back in fear. Luffy thought it was sad to see them so jumpy over a name. The captain of this base had a lot to answer for.

"Luffy, I don't think we should say that name around here. Last I heard, he was arrested by Captain Axe Hand Morgan..." The crowd jumped again, some even fleeing at the name and tripping over others. Coby was confused by their behaviour. Why were they so scared? Morgan was a marine.

"Not all marines are good, Coby", Luffy said, revealing that Coby voiced his thoughts aloud.

"No way! That's impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Marines protect people!" Luffy sighed, upset with himself for almost ruining Coby's dream. He needed to know the truth, though. Coby would be the one to change it someday.

"I'm not lying, Coby. There are tons of corrupt marines. The world isn't just black and white, there can be bad pirates and good marines, but there are also good pirates and bad marines", he said, determined to get his point across. "I think you'll do great, though. You're strong and you have good intentions, Coby. You'll definitely be a great marine", Luffy finished with a bright smile. Coby was at a loss for words, it was strange.

The two walked towards the base in an uncomfortable silence. As they made their way there, Luffy noticed a flash of excitement exuded from Zoro's aura. Was that it? Did Zoro remember? Or was Luffy just hoping for something that wouldn't happen?

"Well, Luffy, it looks like this is where we part ways", Coby started, crying a bit. "Wah! Luffy! You can't just climb over the wall!"

"But Zoro's there", he retorted. Coby looked at Luffy incredulously.

"Heeeey! Zoro!" Coby almost fainted when got up. The pirate hunter was there and Luffy was calling for him!

The pirate hunter looked up, a fire in his eye that Coby couldn't explain. "Yo, Luffy! Wanna get me out of here already?" He sounded like he was making a funny joke.

Coby started crying. Luffy knew this guy?! He felt like his life was starting to get too weird for him to really grasp. What was going on? How did they meet? Why didn't the pirate hunter bring him in? It made no sense!

"Yo! Zoro! Glad to see you again! Shishishishi! You stuck or something?" Luffy sounded truly joyed over seeing Zoro again. He was literally shaking from the joy. Coby wondered why that was. How long had it been since they last met? So many questions that will probably never be answered.

"No, Luffy. I just like to hang from crosses every once in a while. YES, I'M STUCK! Now can you get my swords so we can get out of here?" Zoro also sounded excited to see Luffy. They were joking around, even with such a serious situation looming over their heads. Luffy smiled and sped off to find said swords as Zoro rolled his eye.

It wasn't long before Luffy came back. Though, he came back to marines throwing Rika over the wall. Using his speed, he caught the small child in his arms, preventing her from getting hurt from the fall. Still surprised from what had just happened, Coby took her to see her mother, Ririka, as Luffy climbed back over the wall.

"It's been a while, Zoro."

"It has." Luffy smiled and handed him one of his swords. They both knew they could just break the wood, but cutting the rope seemed more fitting. Not that they really cared too much.

Not long after Zoro was freed, Morgan had come in and ordered for their immediate execution. They were shot at, but Zoro deflected the bullets with amazing grace and Luffy bounced them back. They were excited to see each other again, though Zoro noticed a bit of fear coming from his captain. He wondered why. And then the reason dawned on him. He'd have to talk to Luffy about it later.

"A devil fruit? Who'd have guessed those actually existed? If you can't shoot him, use your swords!"

How annoying. Luffy back handed several of them, a slight coating of Armament where their swords were meant to hit, but wanted to see how Zoro was doing. He had complete faith that his first mate was doing well, though. He was just curious since it had been so long.

Almost all of the marines were down when Coby walked in. Helmethead had put a gun up to his head as Luffy finished off Morgan. Looking at the weird blonde kid holding his friend hostage, he sent a very small wave of haki at him. He fell over instantly, still conscious, but frothing at the mouth and severely overwhelmed.

Too many weaklings, in Luffy's opinion. He didn't like fighting those weaker than him, though that would be most, if not all, of East Blue at the moment. He probably wouldn't have a real fight until Alabasta. Maybe Whiskey Peak if him and Zoro decided to fight there again. That'd be a lot of fun!

All of the marines in the base cheered over their captain's defeat. It was odd to see, really, but Luffy understood why they would. Not that he was particularly worried for them. Their now commander would do fine, if he remebered correctly. Zoro's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly in complaint. Luffy laughed as his did, too.

Luffy was proud when Coby told him he understood what he meant when they first arrived and that he still wanted to be a marine to help others. After a while of marines and civilians thanking them, which made the pirates and their companion mildly uncomfortable, Coby took them to the restaurant Rika's mother worked in. The kind woman gave them their large meals on the house after hearing what they did. Zoro was about to ask Luffy about earlier, but the marines had walked in at that moment.

"We appreciate everything you've done for us, but, as marines, we can not allow pirates to stay in our city. As such, we must ask you to leave immediately." Luffy smiled at the large group of marines as the two stood and walked off. "What about this one? Is he not with you?" The grin grew a bit wider, though it would've been hard to tell to all but Zoro and Coby.

"Nah, but I can tell you what he's don-" Coby punched him in the mouth, which was what Luffy was hoping for. He found the courage to stand up on his own. Luffy was confidant in his ability to succeed.

Though, it looked like he'd have wait a couple more moments before he could go and find Nami again. He punched Coby lightly a couple times before the marines got him off and told them to leave. And that they did. To the sea!

As they left, they saw Coby and the marines salute them. Even now, it was quite the sight. Marines saluting pirates. What a crazy thing.

Now, Zoro had the chance to ask. "Luffy."

"Hrm?"

"Why are you afraid right now?" Luffy had a stunned expression on his face. Zoro saw right through him as always. He sighed.

"I guess I was just worried you guys would be upset with me."

"Over what?"

"I made a huge mistake, Zoro. You guys... you guys /died/ because of me!" Luffy was hiding the self-loathing snarl behind his hat. Zoro sighed, so that was it. He was right, Luffy was still upset over that. Of course, he understood. It wasn't easy always remembering that day. He and Luffy were the last to go, so he knew how Luffy felt better than anyone. Though, he also knew he died before Luffy. He had left Luffy completely alone with no means to get back up again. Luffy's support had vanished and he had fallen back into darkness.

One other thing Zoro knew? He knew that wasn't all that was bugging his captain. There was something else. Something big he was missing. He happened to notice the new scar along his captain's throat. It was thin and hard to see, but it was noticeable when you looked. It looked like his jaw had been cut open and cauterized shut, in Zoro's opinion. He wasn't far from the truth.

"Luffy, what happened after we died", Zoro asked, his one eye narrowed in worry and suspicion.

Luffy held his breath for several seconds, not knowing what to tell his swordsman. He bit his lip trying to think and realized he couldn't tell him yet. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. Luffy gulped a bit.

"C-can I tell you when everyone's together, Zoro? I wanna tell them what happened, too." /'And I'm not ready to talk about it yet'/ was left hanging in the air, but Zoro noticed and dropped the subject with a nod. Luffy was grateful for his first mate's understanding. He just... couldn't bring himself to say it.

 _ **Super Short chapter, sorry guys! I didn't really wanna change this one too much, especially the part where Coby hit Luffy, because Coby still needed to start taking up for himself and the way the original did it seemed to suit Luffy's style best (of course it would, though. It's the original. Lmao).**_

 _ **Anywho, onto the reviews!**_

 ** _ImpassivePurple: I'm not sure whether to apologize for you having to dig through piles of yaoi or not (mostly 'cause I don't know if you like it. It's cool with me whether you like it or not, though, 'cause opinions.) The main reason for not messing with his Haki too much is because it's a mental/spiritual thing which, going by how certain time-travel scenarios may work, would go back with his consciousness. At least, I believe that's how it'd work. I must admit, I'm a tad bit afraid of changing a lot as I want some of the adventures still taking place (including a couple filler/movies I happened to enjoy), but I'm gonna face those fears head on and go with the flow of my story! This story has been years in the making. This is my 4th version of it, or should I say... /gear/. Lmao, but, really, I've worked really hard to make a better plot than my 1st, so I really hope it turns out well and no one will have to regret reading/writing this! ^u^_**

 ** _BlackGryphon101: Ah, thank you! Don't worry, I'm not really a fan of romance stories, so I don't really plan on making it one. Yeah, I don't think I'll do any enemies, but, if I do, they're only gonna be enemies that'll have an actual impact on this story. (Though, someday, I might make a small story that'll be some epic fights between past enemies and post-timeskip Luffy. Not time-travel, just awesome fights.)_**

 ** _Chibi-Twan: Yep! :) I had another person ask me for Sabo and I really like that idea, so he's probably going to. And I'm so glad you are!_**

 ** _Also, yes, Luffy scarred himself. I feel so bad for that, but how else would he remember which life was his? He didn't have any paper or anything. Oh God, I feel so bad for that, though. ( ; n ; ) (That's also why it's hurt/comfort, he's been hurt and his family's gonna comfort him.)_**

 ** _LoganAlexander: Aaaahhh, I can't believe I didn't even think of training Ace in haki! I didn't plan on telling him about Sabo in the first chapter, mainly because I don't think that was what was on Luffy's mind at first. I might end up making a flashback later on that has to do with that topic, though. I didn't really think of getting Dragon to train both Ace and Sabo, tbh. Ace was strong before and he had died, not because he was too weak, but because Luffy was in trouble and I think Luffy knows Ace is gonna be strong. Of course, they still trained much harder than last time, just not in haki. I also don't think Ace would willingly train with Dragon, but I could be wrong._**

 ** _iloveanimeandmanga2000: Well, you're in luck! I had Zoro planned out since I first started making this story a few years back. Even in my first version, he was able to remember, lol!_**

 ** _bibliophile030: I think he counts as a friendly rival. Thank you!_**

 ** _Weirdo Halfa: I have some plans in mind. You may not like them, though ;^;_**

 ** _So far, we have (Zoro's already in, so I'm not counting him.)_**

 ** _1 Ace_**

 ** _2 Sabo_**

 ** _1 Thatch_**

 ** _1 Law_**

 ** _1 Kuro_**

 ** _1 Moriah_**

 ** _1 CP9 agent_**

 ** _Thanks for voting/reading! (So many reviews in only 2 chapters! Oh my goodness, I think I'm gonna die from the joy!)_**


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